A Christmas Rendezvous

iii.

Prisha soon found out that Ishaan, the twenty-eight year old, was nearly a perfect human being.

He had inherited the restaurant from his mother two years after graduating from business school.

Unfortunately, he had lost his father, who was a doctor, at a young age. He had contracted a deadly disease at work.

Also, despite some of his earlier remarks, he was a gentleman. He had been politely refilling her coffee cup and had not taken advantage of her intoxicated state.

He wasn't even married, a fact Prisha had checked the moment she was sober enough.

Even the way he sat, one shoe on the footrest of the stool, the other casually tapping to the rhythm of the music, was full of suave.

"Wait. So you killed a mouse just to study his respiratory rate?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat.

It was way past the closing time but they both stayed put on their stools and continued chatting.

"128 of them, actually. I didn't kill them per se, it was part of the process as we figured out the right amount of anesthesia and how it affects the nervous system." She took another sip of her coffee and explained.

"Woah, that sounds barbaric!" he said, incredulously.

"It's not as barbaric as killing chickens everyday! Besides, without this knowledge, how can we know if the surgical procedures are up to date," she retorted playfully.

He chuckled. "Hey! I only buy the meat, I don't kill it myself."

She shrugged, smiling. "Same thing. You're making someone else kill for you!"

"Damn then! I'm definitely going to hell, amn't I," he exclaimed making her laugh out loud.

Most people would just groan when she spoke about her work. But there he was, an almost stranger, listening to her random facts with keen interest.

He looked into her eyes every time he spoke, and Prisha was shocked at how pleasant she felt. It was like her disastrous date never happened.

"I've a fun fact for you," he said brightly after a minute of silence.

For a second, Prisha thought he was going to crack a joke about the thing in his pants just like Kevin, so she simply nodded.

"I told your waiter to spill that red wine on your date," he confessed.

She stared at him for a full second before bursting into tears of laughter. That scene was hilarious!

Despite Kevin refusing his share of the bill, shouting at everyone, and humiliating her, she had thoroughly enjoyed seeing him go red. Quite literally!

Prisha gave Ishaan one of her widest smiles and leaned forward, giving away her secret. "I paid an extra tip to the waiter for that move! Best hundred I've ever spent!"

They dissolved into laughter again, their knees brushing against each other.

It was strange. This chance encounter felt more like a date than her actual date. Prisha wasn't sure if she wanted the night to end anymore.

"Thanks," she said earnestly. He had genuinely helped her and that too, twice in the same day!

He smiled back, wondering why he was doing this. On normal occasions, he would roll his eyes at a crying woman in his bar, get her to pay the bill, call her a cab, and be done.

But ever since he had found this girl crouching down in the bushes with her face pressed against his restaurant window, he had been unable to concentrate on anything else.

He would be lying if he said he hadn't glanced at her while she was quietly eating her food, listening to her date go on and on about something. He wanted to interrupt their date since she mentioned she was bribed into it and the outcome was very evident.

But he knew that he didn't have the right to. Plus, it wouldn't be good for business if he meddled in his customer's affairs.

However, when he noticed her growing increasingly uncomfortable and constantly rearranging her dress, he couldn't stand by anymore. No customer or bill is worth a women getting ill-treated and his mother had taught him better.

Leaning forward once more, he offered to refill Prisha's cup but she stopped him.

"Nah, I think I've had enough. I don't want to mess up my gastrointestinal reflex, too much alcohol followed by too much caffeine is hardly a good idea."

He chuckled. "Did you conduct study on this too?"

"Nope. But I read about it. You know, a couple died on their honeymoon cause they took too many espresso shots?"

Ishaan's eyes widened. "Seriously?!"

She nodded.

"Wow, you're really full of information!" he exclaimed.

Looking at her flushed cheeks, he reworded, "I don't mean it in a condescending way. It's truly remarkable how passionate you're about your subject. Very few have that and it's very," he paused, "it's very attractive."

If it was possible for her cheeks to go more hot, it was done. Except her parents, no one had ever complimented her on that before. Even Kriti always zoned out once Prisha started talking work.

She tucked a hair strand behind her ear and gave him a small smile. The temperature was suddenly rising in the room and neither of them realized when they moved their stools close.

The stretchy fabric of Prisha's dress felt slightly tighter as her arms became sweaty.

"Prisha?" Ishaan asked. His voice was calming and exciting, at the same time.

"Mm-hmm?" she murmured, shocked at how fast things were moving.

Their faces were inches from one another.

"May I kiss you?" he asked, breathing heavily.

Prisha inched forward, silently consenting to the maddening tension in the room.

The kiss was slow, neither of them made a move to deepen it. The intimacy in its simplicity made Prisha smile.

If a simple kiss from this man made her heart flutter, what else was he capable of?

Ishaan pulled back as fast as he had approached, a goofy smile plastered on his face, a sentiment Prisha surely returned.

"Wow," she murmured.

"My sentiments exactly," he replied making her giggle.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"Now," he paused making her stare at him in anticipation, "we go have the truffle you so dearly desired."

It took a moment for her to process those words and as she did, a loud giggle erupted from her stomach. She had met the guy mere hours ago and he already seemed to know her favorites.

"And then?" she smiled playfully.

"Then, we exchange numbers?" he asked, hopefully.

She giggled. "Yes, of course, we do."

And there you go. That's the end of this story, or rather a beginning for Ishaan & Prisha. I may write some spin offs for them in the future but for now, we'll let them enjoy their truffle and leave it at that. Let me know if you'd like to read more on them. Until next time, much love <3